SAR launched to find missing foreigner who fell off ship

SARIKEI (Oct 22): A search-and-rescue (SAR) has been launched to find a crew member of a ship, docked at a jetty near Taman Susur Jambu here today.

Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Sarawak operations centre, in a statement, said the man was identified as Min Wai Lin, 45, from Myanmar.

“We received a call about the incident at 9.30am and deployed six firefighters from Sarikei station to the location.

“Based on information given, a vessel from Kuching arrived at the jetty at 6.12am to unload rocks.

“Before reaching the jetty, two shipping crew members informed the captain that a co-worker had fallen into the river.

“They attempted to rescue the victim using life-saving equipment, but failed,” said Bomba Sarawak.

It also said that the rescuers employed water surface search within 1k radius from the location where the victim was last seen.

Other agencies involved in the SAR operation were the Royal Malaysia Police, Marine Police and the Sarawak Rivers Board.